File PhotoKentwood's Tom Werkmeister is two victories away from winning the Michigan Amateur for the second time since 2009.

BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP – The 101st Michigan Amateur Championship
is further proof that Grand Rapids is one of the state's true hotbeds for
amateur golf.

Three of the four semifinalists – medalist Brian Hayward,
former champion Tom Werkmeister and collegian Drew Preston – all hail from the
greater Grand Rapids area. Novi's Wesley Gates is the lone exception.

Hayward (Ada) will play Werkmeister (Kentwood) in one of
Friday morning's semifinals at Oakland Hills North Course while Preston (Ada)
will square off against Gates in a matchup of Bowling Green University
teammates.

The winners will meet for the championship Friday afternoon.

Hayward, who tied for third in last week's Michigan Open, is
trying to become the first medalist in 13 years to win the Michigan Amateur. He
was the co-medalist in 2008 at The Moors near Kalamazoo and then finished atop
the stroke play field again this year by shooting 3-under-par 66-71—137.

He advanced to the semifinals by beating Brett Hudson of
Bloomfield Hills 2 and 1 Thursday morning before rallying to knock off Jackson's
Austin Eccleton 3 and 1 in the afternoon quarterfinals.

Eccleton had a 1-up lead with four holes to play before
Hayward won the 15th, 16th and 17th holes to
end the match.

"I don't know if this is the best golf I've ever played but
I am playing very well this week," said Hayward, 25. "I'm putting well and
playing smarter. I'm not putting any pressure on myself. This is the farthest
I've ever been in the Michigan Am so I'm not stressing."

Hayward lost in the opening round of match play in 2008
after sharing medalist honors with Traverse City's Randy Hutchison, the 2011
Michigan Open champion.

Werkmeister, 44, is the oldest player still in the hunt for
the state am crown, which he won in 2009 at Spring Meadows near Flint.

Werkmeister beat Milford's Tom Gieselman, an Oakland Hills
member, 1 up in a 19-hole morning match before knocking off 2010 champion Joey Garber
of Petoskey in a 22-hole marathon that was delayed because of inclement
weather.

Being the most seasoned player in the field has made
Werkmeister familiar with all of his opponents.

"I've played with Brian Hayward many, many times and also with
Drew Preston a handful of times in some West Michigan events and I just played
with Wes Gates – awesome player – in the Michigan Open last week," Werkmeister
said.

"I just played steady and made a lot of pars. I like
the difficulty of the North Course – especially the greens. I used an Oakland
Hills caddie today and I'm going to use one again tomorrow because it was
extremely helpful in reading the greens."

Gates, 21, beat Haslett's Chris Mory 3 and 2 in the
morning before routing Birmingham's Bill O'Connor, another Oakland Hills member,
8 and 6 in the quarterfinals. That was the most one-sided match of the day.

Preston, 21, won his quarterfinal match 3 and 2 over Jimmy
Dewling of Brighton after beating Birmingham's Michael Castleforte 2 up in the
morning round.

Being Bowling Green teammates, it's safe to say there will
be no secrets when Gates and Preston meet in the semis.

"I'm looking forward to tomorrow because I'm just going to
get up and play a round of golf with my friend and we can just play and talk
and enjoy the day," Preston said. "Match play has never been my forte and I
think it is because I'm too nice. I just don't go into it with the killer
instinct that you need. But this week I set a goal to be more aggressive and
that has worked for me.

"I want to beat Wes bad. Playing Wesley tomorrow after we
have played with each other about 200 times in college is going to be great. Of
those 200 times that we've played I definitely have the advantage. I've
definitely won more matches."

Preston recently completed his senior season at Bowling Green, where Gates will be a senior in the fall.

"Drew was our best player at Bowling Green and
he's another golfer who I try to model myself after," Gates said. "He's really a good player
and I've tried to learn from him while I've been at Bowling Green."